My Taiwan Trip 2010

hey folks!
sorry for the delay. these pix took like hours to load man.
we took like 500 pix.
hahahha.

ok, my taiwan trip updates.

Day 1

BBT Eeyore on the plane
I van to go c 台湾辣妹...

we reached our hotel late afternoon. too early for dinner.BBT was thinking of wat to eat for the time being to fill his stomach.

BBT: 台湾辣妹，你在哪里？？

n the answer is obvious, how can we skip Ah Zhong mian xian when we r staying in 西门町?
Wear long sleeve under 31 degree celcius is KL...

super long Q lor. but still, super nice.
baby: Q until the uncle next door come n chase us away...

we realised that the mian xian is oni an appetiser. made us more hungry. so we ended up eating early dinner. we went to 飞天麻辣. Look at the beef, pork n lamb they having. yes, lamb. i tell u, their lamb is super nice!! i think nicer than beef man.....yumz.
baby: we ordered only 1 plate.. the uncle next to us ordered 3 plates... n he was eating alone...我们输了。。

look at the jumbo oysters!!!sweet n juicy!
baby: oysters for oomph factor...

we ordered the mala and the sha cha pot.
baby: the mala is too challenging for me...





this is refillable duck's blood in the mala soup. wah, my all time fav lor. wout eating this, dun ever say u came to taiwan b4. tender, soft, spicy....super yummy.
but alas, accidents do happen. i burnt my chin while eating this. left a scar on my chin for the remaining days in taiwan. wtf.
baby: my poor baby


baby's high fibre diet.
baby: this is important for my survival...


i mixed this sauce. nt bad la.
baby: my baby is talented in many ways..



me n the super big piece of you tiao soaked in the spicy soup. super-licious!
baby: vhere's my share???

baby is v excited abt her sarsi. erm, nt nice. no taste one.

baby: the sarsi is too small for my face...

we went to shop around w a full stomach.

v full. made us tired though. so went bk to hotel n watch the nv ending channels on tv. hahaha.

oh, we did go to wu fen pu for shopping though....

wahahahaha!!!!

Day2

hw can we miss this when we r in taipei? 鱿鱼羹and炒米粉 is the best way to start the morning. even in summer. i've even added chilli into my soup. super spicy!!!!sob.
baby: eating this in summer is another challenge... not to mention the chilli..

nt alot of chilli lor. yet still damn spicy man.bleh. initially, we were enjoying the food, sipping the hot soup slowly. sekali, we heard this song over the radio, n we quickly finish eating our stuff n run away. “aiyayayay 哦爱的抱抱.....” -_-""
baby: managed to slurp up all under the hot sun before the song finished..

we went to the train station to get the tix to ruifang the nxt day.

under the super scotching sun, we went to find the facial stuff by 女人我最大, but after an hour's attempt, we gave up.

one, it was super duper hot.

two, we cant really find the place.

three, we found the place eventually, but alas, they dun hav the pdts we wanted.

so, ya.

however, it wasnt a wasted trip either.

look wat we've found!

baby is q-ing up for the 煎饼. 3 flavours to choose from, original custard, red bean n tiramisu.
baby: muz q muz q

we got the original one, n we regretted nt buying more. we came bk ltr for a big pack of tiramisu ones. the pix will b in ltr part of this post.
baby: smells heavenly outside the shop...

we went to a japanese pancake (okonomiyaki) shop for lunch. baby is waiting patiently for her food to arrive.

me is happy. finally can sit down in an aircon plc.
baby: before entering shop = sweat smell --> after one hour here = sweat + chao dar smell

baby well-equip w her mini fan
baby: fan not big enough to blow away chaodar smell

instructions for cooking. we were thinking, mati la, duno how to cook leh...ltr chao dar how????
baby: chao dar en u eat la...

i cooled myself w a bottle of beer. yes, in the afternoon, one bottle. yes, beer.
baby: 别把我灌醉。。

we ordered a seafood pancake w bacon.

me: quick take photo!!!

baby: huh?

me: then i can say i cook one (actually the shopkeeper helped us)

baby: erm, but hor, u r using the WRONG spatula leh

me: huh????

baby: u r using the spoon for eating lor dumbass.
baby: -_-

after kena insulted, i drank myself to death(haha)

baby: 我把你灌醉。。

ta dah!!!okonomiyaki!!! soft in the inside, crispy on the outside. nt bad nt bad.

the shop keeper busying frying, while i was peeping at other things
baby: u r juz trying to siam the smoke...

wah lau eh, vy the smoke so big one?????

baby: cos i blow it towards ur side ma.. duh...

we've ordered kimchi fried noodles too!

me: eh, take photo leh

baby: again?

me: ya la, dun i look like a chef?

baby: erm, no, cos all the food finish liao, duh.

we went ahead n shopped for awhile at 忠孝东路（走九遍？？？) n went bk hotel to put down the stuff we've bought.

we went out in the evening to hunt for the famous n super yummy smelly beancurd in shilin nite mkt. the Q was super long. we've to wait for like 45 mins to actually eat the stuff.
baby: ended up drinking super bitter 苦茶.. 苦到心底..

baby: chou chou

me: fei hua, ah bor call chou dou fu?

baby: but me like chou chou

me: ........

wanted to showoff my new hat. look at the guy behind me. damn 抢镜. he muz b wonder y the f*** a person wear this kind of hat to this shop. smelly to core.

baby: i tink the hat is still smelly today...

各位观众，麻辣凉面！！went ot tv b4. its damn refreshing to eat such a cold noodle in summer. n surprisingly, it is v spicy!!! the sesame paste went well w the ice cold egg noodle.v nice n special.
baby: its very nice!! but toooo spiccccy...

the legendary smelly beancurd. we've had this for many times. everytime we r in taipei, we r sure to Q for this. super crispy on the outside, sweet n soft in the inside. n yes, it sure is smelly. but thats the best part of it!!!!
baby: best chou dou fu... we r lucky & smart to hunt down this shop 2 yrs ago during our biz trip... when it wasn't featured on TV yet... :P

what is snacking in shilin if we nv visit this shop for the 雪片冰.open ur eyes, its NOT雪花冰. get this right. this is our fav maple 雪片冰with pearls. v v cooling for summer nites like this. did i mention that we Q for 30 mins b4 sitting down?
baby: worth waiting & q-ing... proud that we managed to find this shop 2 yrs ago。

we were too tired after shopping n eating in shilin, so we went bk to hotel n rest.

we found this little mobile hawker outside our hotel selling 抓饼(think roti prata). curious, we bought one bk to the hotel (yes, as if nt enuff food).

this is w a special sauce, egg and basil. omg!!!it is super tasty lor. the basil leaves was so so fragrant. i bought this many times after that.
baby: super yuuum... but oily...

Day 3

my chin w the stupid scar caused by the duck's blood. bleh.
baby: prove that u ate it ma..

train journey was 45 mins.
baby: the 2 girls in the background were busy touching up on their make-up towards the end of the journey...

BBT went w us too.
baby: BBT got Hichew instead of 台湾辣妹cos he is still underaged...

we reached rui fang at 1 plus in the afternoon. too early to check into the min su. so we loiter around n found smth to eat.

tau kwa. erm, nt nice. hard n salty.

this is diff. the beef noodles r pretty good! al dente w chunks n chunks of beef in the flavourful soup. nt bad at all.
baby: not bad beef noodle...

we took a cab to jin gua shi n these r some of the scenery we saw on our way.

y we nv take bus neh?

1st, the plc we r going to stay in dun hav direct bus.

2nd, i dun wan to waste my precious time waiting, losing my way.

so if u going to make comments like "oh, waste money, so spendthrift...." or “没搭巴士就不能体验他们的生活”, then u go F off.

to me, taking cab is also understanding their culture.

dun tell me the ppl there dun take cab????

moreover, when u take cab, the cabbie actullay tells u abt the history n the culture of the plc. u r like having a tour guide w u.

so, wats ur problem???

screw u.

老子就是要这样花钱，你管的着吗？

我也是在体验他们的生活。

有钱人的生活。

你懂个屁。

ok, sorry for digressing.

we've finally reached 缓慢. baby is enjoying her ice cold plum juice served to us by the housekeeper of the 民宿. v attentive (cos she realised that i was panting my way up the super long stairway w our mini luggages.
baby: super pek cek & tired after the climb up.. but it was all calm & serene inside..

the reception area. we were asked to choose our fav fragrance n the name of our room.

we had cookies too!

this is the view from the bathtub in our room. look at the view!
baby: WooHoo!

views from our balcony

baby: views that u will never see in our country..

BBT n XDD made frens w the 2 bears on our bed

they even hav guides for us to roam about in the forest, maps n history of the plc. they've even given us a small glass bottle to keep watever we found on our way to the forest.so nice.
baby: so so nice... all planned nicely for us...

baby wants to slp liao

baby: no i m not slpy... yet...

me pretending to b poetic. did i mention that the book has the same name as our room?

the cd player in our room. we were greeted by the fragrance of flowers n soothing music when the housekeeper brought us into our room. how dreamy can dat possibly get?
baby: its like a dream!!!

baby doing stretching

baby: u c u c, i can c the guy across the rd peeping at me!!

me: please la, who wants to peep at u?

baby: yes leh, peeping

me: (went to c) wah lau eh, it is a signboard la. wtf.

baby: still peeping wat....

we r made to wear slippers in the house. this is to keep the plc clean, quiet, n of cos, make us feel more comfy.
baby: so 贴心！

i love this view. we can c the sea from here. beautiful.

take picture take picture.

baby: k la k la

i oso felt sleepy at this point of time.
baby: rock-a-bye baby...

this bear was at the sofa in the books n dvd area. baby n i took a dvd n watch in our room.

guess wat movie? :) (clue: not porn)

they also hav a bear behind the reception area. baby n i decided to go n do some trekking in the forest.

our room is at the 3rd floor

baby happily posing b4 we went. take note of the change in expression ltr.

baby starting to get tired liao. kena bitten by mozzie too. look at her face. says it all.
baby: kena exposed...

this is the sea we saw form our rm juz now. we r walking towards the 119 cafe.

me: take picture take picture
baby: faster, i kena mozzie bite again
baby: eh vy my face bigger than urs ah...

baby standing on the v old bridge

baby loved these little purple flowers. i plucked them out n kept them in the glass bottle.

we've finally reached the cafe after walking for like 30 mins.

what a view

me: aiyo, dun stick ur finger into the fan la

baby: i am trying to make sure it is working

me: please leh, it is MOVING, of cos it is working

baby: oh ya hor.

little purple flowers in glass bottle

baby playing w the stirrer in my fruit tea

baby ordered a "119 brewed ice coffee". v nice.

our order comes w a cheesecake too. look at the deco. got flowers n fruits too!

we were talking n laughing n enjoying ourselves (nobody in the cafe except us), until we realised that we maybe late for dinner!!!!

we finished our cakes n rushed down the "mountain".

ok la, nt v rush cos still got time to take pix of flowers. haha.

well, end up we were abit late for dinner. luckily, the briefing havent start yet.

we sat at the last available table (oops).

this is our housekeeper, 小不点. she will b the one to brief us on the food we r going to have for our dinner. from the history of the place, to the cultures, to the reasons for the ingredients and how to eat the food so that we can taste the best out of the ingredients.

1st course, plum juice w smth in the glass. guess wat.

cherry tomato!!! super sweet!!! they've included gold dust in the drink becos the plc is famous for gold mining in the past.

cheers!

chopsticks

2nd course, noodles w pumpkin puree, pan fried prawn w pepper salt and braised squid. 金瓜石got its name from oumpkin, hence, the sauce for noodles. the seafood r freshly caught in the morning from the sea (yes, the one we saw juz now). super tasty!!! i love the noodles. fragrant w pumpkin sweetness.

3rd course, fresh saba fish w purple sweet potato. all freshly from the place itself.the fish was damn sweet!(natural sweetness). love it.

the dish comes w a ume wine (for ladies) or sake(for men). goes extremely well w the fish.

this is a platter of seaweeds. diff species, diff types. comes w diff sauces too. erm, i can oni say they r v healthy lor. hahaha. i am nt a fan of weeds. :p

obviously, baby enjoys the weeds.
baby: feels very healthy

rice u mushroom smth. i dun quite rem. apparently, we were already quite full when this dish was served.

the rice was served w chix n fish. nice.
baby: my favourite dish!

this was the “烫青菜”session. they were saying that men shd do the job bcos women had always been the one cooking for men. so all men from the table shd serve the women. oh well. look at my reluctant face.
baby: fishball noodle uncle forced to cook veggie that nite... very unwilling

ta dah...freshly harvested and cooked veg w my creative sauce. baby say nice.
baby: very nice indeed, u can sell veggie at ur fishball noodle stall..

fried garlic. for wat?

for this seafood soup!!! super yummy! goodness from the sea.

super big squid rings

baby was super full w all the food. me too man. v v v full!

dessert was 寒天 and green bean cake.

baby v happy w the meal.

we went bk to the room to rest.

me n baby chatted abit, finished the movie (yes, we didnt finish watching juz now), did some facial mask, listening to the 蝉叫声from the woods.....

suddenly at abt 10.30pm, someone slide this note under the door into our room.

the housekeeper wrote a little note to us. so sweet of her.

u noe, this whole experience, made me really really appreciate the time i had here. the ppl here r so nice. they r not oni mending the business. they really care for the well being of all the guests here. genuine care. from the bottom of their hearts. we can feel it. seriously. that really touches me alot alot.

baby: a complete rejuvenation, mentally, physically, spiritually... a highly recommended plc for u if u really need a gdgd break...

baby drew this. she ask me how come she draw herself until so ugly.hahhaa.

Day 4

good morning !!!

close ur mouth ppl. yes, this is our bfast. they call it the 九宫格.9 dishes w sweet potato porridge n miso soup w seaweed sauce. and the best thing is, it is refillable.

i love these clams. fresh n sweet. goes v well w the porridge.
baby: best clams i've ever tasted..

cabbage

minced pork. super tasty.

egg w silver fish (fresh)

saba!!!!alot of omega from last nite.

this was my 3rd bowl of porridge.enjoyed to the max.

orh bee lor. ate toooooooo much. end up so full.

baby still v happy after bfast.

we went bk to our room n brewed some tea b4 checking out.

baby waiting for our cab

fake fireplace

as it was still quite early, we went jiufen for some food n shopping.

my 干面muz come and eat everytime.

pig's ears. crunchy goodness.

fishball soup. their fishball is v diff from ours. v dense. nt bad.

how can we skip the jiufen 芋圆? this is the assorted one w green tea, sweet potato, red beans etc flavors w green bean soup. icy cold dessert. the orh yee is v Q. my fav dessert.

baby: must-have if u r at Jiufen... but u muz find e rite shop...

purple bear VS froggy. frog wins w bigger face. try harder nxt time, bear.
baby: my mouth is bigger than urs...

we waited for abt 1 hr for our train.super hot. bleh.

we went to rest for awhile in the hotel b4 we made our way to our fav restaurant in taiwan kiki!!!!
baby: waited half a yr for kiki!!

me n baby waited so long for this meal!!!

me: take picture take picture

baby: eh, got double chin

me: is it is it?

baby: ya, u better cover

me: covered

baby: forget it, still hav. too big liao. cover oso no use.

me: #^%$&^&^*&^

kangkong w fermented beancurd. v nice.

baby: u too fat le, cannot eat so much rice

me: then how????

baby: I EAT!!!! MUAHAHAHAHA.

this 成都小炒is fantastic. sliced pork w spring onions, leeks n chilli. super duper tasty. the spring onions n leek r sweet, w the little fat on the pork. melts in ur mouth. n the little sting on ur tongue by the chilli, wah, i am drooling as i typed this.

whoever did nt order this when u dine at kiki shd go n bang their head against the wall.老皮嫩肉 is nt meat at all. it is fried beancurd w sauce over it. but u will b amaze hw good this dish is. the interior of the tofu is like dao huay w the soft tofu skin holding its shape.n the sauce, marvellous.i can have this all by myself.no sharing please.hahahaha.
baby: order 2 plates nex time...

bittergourd w pork ribs soup. v tasty. n we can gurantee that there r no msg in it (or minimum). nt thirsty after drinking it. our fav soup in kiki.

baby always so happy after a meal.

we went raohe nite mkt after we went wu fen pu (again!!!) to pick up some "missed opportunities" (hehehe, ok, clothes la clothes la)

wanted to play the catch-the-goldfish-w-a-paper-duno-wat-but-we-noe-its-kelong-n-need-alot-of-skill game. but we figured out that we cant bring the fish bk to spore n we cant cook the fish either, so no point.

we went for the herbal pork rib our colleague (baby: ya, my "gd fren" from tw) recommended to us. i can oni say her taste buds got problem. the lady boss behaved like a robber, while the pork ribs tasted like rubber (pun intented).

on the whole, i think, raohe sux.

haha.
i preferred my shilin. more things to eat.

this is the tiramisu cake i was raving abt previously. 12 pcs one box. me n baby ate them all within 2 days. power.

Day 5

baby n i braved the sun n went to look for the sub of kiki. it is called the kiki cafe. after sweating out in the hot sun, we managed to find it in the inner lane of zhongxiao xinsheng. the shop asst is briefing baby on the cakes they hav for that day.

look at my SWEAT. my shirt is soaking wet.

v hot la.

baby: it's so much hotter & scorching than in spore...

who switched off the lights???who?????

my lemon zesty drink. super sour.
baby: ger kiang, order sour drink for vat...

baby's duno wat yoghurt drink. i end up having this. the lemon one was too sour for me.

pork knuckles w german sausages. i am a big big fan of pork knuckles n sausages. so if u ask me, i am happy w this. not too oily, but can b better la.

didnt comment abt the cake. nt worth mentioning.

our conclusion is, we will stick to the main kiki nxt time.

hahhaa.

do u noe that partyworld in taiwan is like a hotel?

they actually own the whole building juz for ktv???

we went to the one near our hotel n was shocked by the 排场of the place.

machiam hotel. got reception downstairs, take ur order, then u go up to ur room.

wah lau.

n they gave us the biggest rm cos they ran out of small ones.

our ktv room, is bigger than my living room (my singapore hse), with TOILET n.......

touch screen monitors!!!!! omg!!!!
baby: yes, I m ur KJ for today...

baby is simply enjoying herself man.
look at the sofa. reminds me of “来，叫几个小姐进来” niteclub chairs.

after the "jay n jolin concert stunt" this song suddenly became popular.

i've switched the mike to "professional" stds w minimal echo. wrong move. damn difficult to sing. can hear ALL your flaws man.haha.

we sang n danced around, treating the session as our concert.

so fun man.

n they hav many songs we dun hav in singapore.

sing like mad.

dun wan to stop leh.

n its nt v ex too.

i will go bk nxt time when i visit taiwan. partyworld rocks.

taiwan la.

after exerting too much strength dancing, we went to shilin to replenish energy.

uh huh!!! 麻辣鸭血+卤大肠+臭豆腐+细粉......

c'mon la. dun give me the face. stinkier than the smelly beancurd.

this is so far the best best best duck's blood n pig's intestine in taiwan i think. for me la.

i even drank the soup after i finish the stuff in the pot.

erm, ok. v smelly la. but tasty la.

baby: tis is my favourite must-have in tw!! we chanced upon this shop 2 yrs ago... fell in love with tis thereafter...

Home Sweet Home Day

BBT on the van on our way to airport.
baby: no 辣妹 for u tis time...

me is v tired to go hm.

baby is v xian to go hm.

we dun wan to go hm.

baby eating the donut we bought from mister donut.

baby: u can't find tis in spore... another muz-haf in ximending...

there u go.

my taiwan trip.

i will go back soon.

n stay in the min su again!!!

wat a soul cleansing experience.

PS: baby may add her comments for this post too (added in purple). u may wan to read again few days ltr. (juz wanted to share our lovely experience! we've been to tw many times... tis is the best trip so far... :)